Sushilkumar Sambhajirao Shinde (born 4 September 1941; Solapur, India) is an Indian politician from the state of Maharashtra. He was the Minister of Home Affairs in the Manmohan Singh government, and the Leader of the house in Lok Sabha[1][2] until 26 May 2014. He previously served as the Chief Minister of the state of Maharashtra during 18 January 2003 to October 2004.

Shinde started his career as a bailiff in Solapur sessions court, where he served from 1957 till 1965. Later, he joined the Maharashtra State Police as a constable,[5] and served as sub-inspector of police, Maharashtra state CID for six years under his C.I.D mentor Amukuraj Patil.[6]

Shinde was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha for second time from Maharashtra on 20 March 2006.[9][10][11] Shinde became the leader of the ruling party in Lok Sabha after his predecessor Pranab Mukherjee was elected President of India.[12] Shinde served as Power minister of India from 2006–2012. Later, he was appointed Home Minister of India in 2012.[13][14]

In 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Shinde was the Congress party nominee. He was defeated by with a margin of 149,674 votes by Sharad Bansode of BJP.[15]

During the 2012 northern India power grid failure, Shinde deflected criticism by observing that India was not alone in suffering major power outages, as the United States and Brazil had both experienced similar blackouts within the previous few years.[16][17] Officials in Uttar Pradesh, where the problem was believed to have begun, said the grid could not keep up with the huge demand for power in the hot summer. Uttar Pradesh power corporation chief Avnish Awasthi stated that the grid collapse was due to the states drawing more than their allotted power to meet the summer demand.[17]

During a speech made in Congress's Chintan Shivir in Jaipur, Shinde had claimed that the Home Ministry had received a report that the RSS and BJP were promoting Hindu terrorism through their training camps. He also accused the RSS and BJP of being behind the Samjhauta Express bombings, Mecca Masjid and Malegaon blasts. His statements were condemned by the BJP for claiming something without giving credible proof. The BJP demanded his immediate resignation, which at his failure to do so they would begin nationwide agitation.[18]Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader, Dr Praveen Togadia demanded Shinde to take back his words and apologise to the whole country.[19] Shiv Sena also condemned his statement saying that in the aftermath of 26/11 Terrorist Attack, the Congress had said that terror should not be associated with any color or religion. However, this time the Congress had raised the issue of "Saffron terrorism." BiharChief MinisterNitish Kumar too slammed him calling his statements "irresponsible" that clearly showed his "immaturity".[20]